DOLPHIN RESEARCH CENTERThirty years of Teaching, Learning, Caring for marine mammals and the environment we share.DRC is a nonprofit marine mammal education and research facility located in the heart of the fabulous Florida Keys. Home to a family of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions, DRC offers a variety of educational, fun, exciting programs, and close-up interactions. We hope you enjoy our blog!

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Sometimes you wake up in the morning and all you want to do
is get out of bed and play. This happened to Cayo one day at Dolphin Research
Center. Cayo has shown us that she has a very independent dolphinality. She
likes things on her own terms and if she doesn’t want to do something, she
won’t.

As people stopped by the front lagoon to say hello to the
maternity pod, Cayo swam over. She showed off a large leaf she had found in the
water. As she fluttered back and forth in front of the tiki-coveredsection, she
began to make clicks from her blowhole.

To make her motives clear, Cayo took the piece of foliage
and threw it onto the concrete area where guestsstood. Unable to resist her
charm, a woman threw the leaf back into the lagoon. This sparked a game of
fetch. Each time, after Cayo threw the leaf back, she excitedly swam further
and further to indicate she wanted it tossed out as far as possible. Each new
round resulted in an even more enthusiastic Cayo.

The game went on for several minutes before it was time for
the guest to move onto her interactive program. As she walked away, Cayo began
to scream as if to say, “Hey, we were having fun. Come back!” The woman waved
goodbye and thanked Cayo for the memories.